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Twin Aussie Entrepreneurs Dominate the Australian Beauty Box Market

SYDNEY — Australian beauty sampling start-up Bellabox has secured $3 million in funding, it announced on Tuesday, meaning more beauty boxes landing on desks of fashionistas around the country.

The beauty box service, co-founded by twin sisters Sarah and Emily Hamilton in 2011, has made waves in the local start-up space in the three years since its inception. Bellabox is now the leading beauty subscription service in Australia with a 70% market share.

Subscribers are treated to a box of five sample beauty products for $15 a month delivered to their door, much like the United States-based Birchbox.

Just four days before securing the second round of funding from Allure Media, Sarah gave birth to her second child, but said it "appears more impressive than it is."

"We were pushing to close to a deal before the baby was born, but he came a week earlier than expected," Sarah told Mashable.

In true workaholic style, she is back in the office and ready for the next push this funding will give to their brainchild.

"What we've been lucky to do in the two times we have raised money is to get investors who are very suitable for the business, and Allure is another indication of that," Sarah said. "We are very focussed on bringing advertising to life."

Sarah told Mashable working with her twin sister is a secret weapon, due to their similar thought processes and driven nature.

"We are both very competitive, and when you know how determined each party is, it works well for you," Sarah said. "We might have times when we disagree about certain aspects of the business but we know we can't help but dedicate ourselves to the business over and above what is needed.

"Knowing you are in partnership with your sister, who works and thinks the same way is definitely an advantage."

The beauty box business was launched in 2011, after the women saw the success of Birchbox and the beauty box phenomenon sweeping the U.S., which hadn't yet taken off in Australia. They also noticed the American start-up scene was thriving and the industry paid particular attention to Birchbox as it had two disruptive female founders, Hayley Barna and Katia Beauchamp.

The Hamilton twins decided to join forces, launching in both Singapore and Australia, using the Birchbox model as an inspiration.

"We really loved there was a product that played to both our skills sets and also something that is for women everywhere," Sarah said, after discovering the beauty subscription obsession growing in the U.S. "One of the great things about Bellabox and Birchbox is you can customise boxes to your database."

"We didn't launch in the U.S. as Birchbox was doing such an excellent job, so I came home to launch in Australia and Emily launched in Singapore. It happened in a week of each other."

Sarah is the numbers person, with a background in financial management she stayed in creative industries and became hooked on all things digital in the retail space. She can trace it back to the moment her first Net-a-Porter delivery landed on her desk at London's iconic lifestyle magazine Dazed & Confused.

In 2007, she moved to Swift Magazine in New York, where she was promoted from business manager to general manager and ran the business side of the magazine. It was in this industry she noticed the joy an intern would get from product samples, much like hoarding a hotel's free mini shampoo.

"That is the feeling we are trying to foster, so that is why we are very careful about how the box is presented. It means every single month it feels like an indulgence," Sarah said.

This is Emily's third company, the serial entrepreneur set up a media buying, production and advertising company in Australia before starting a digital marketing company which took her to Singapore. She was then in the perfect position to start Bellabox with Sarah by launching the product on the doorstep of the Asia-Pacific market.

One aspect that sets the company apart from other beauty box subscription services is the demographic inclusion policy. Instead of just focussing on beauty aficionados, the company looks to broader groups that different brands would like to target. This can be seen in the introduction of Bellobox and Bellababy, for men and children.

With a team of 30 people across offices in Melbourne and Singapore and 600 brand partners, the funding by Fairfax-owned Allure Media will let the sisters take the company further and deal with their main challenge of keeping up with demand from customers.

"This strategic partnership has come at the right time as we ramp up our expansion and take Bellabox to the next level," Sarah said.

Her advice for people wanting to take on the start-up world is to be naive.

"We just jumped in," she said. "We were so keen to get to market and that just worked for us."

Mashable
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